He felt a little uneasy for some time after this, for he dreaded an open rupture with Peter; but, as the time went on, and he heard no more about it, he concluded that Mr. Coleman had taken the advice given him without complaint, and he began to feel easier. Coleman was the one link between him and his past life--the one being who had knowledge of things that he wanted buried out of sight forever; and I think that, if he did not actually wish any harm to befall his quondam friend, he would have received the news of his death with patient resignation. Therefore, when he found that gentleman’s card on his desk one morning after he had concluded that he had heard the last of it all, he was not exactly pleased; and his greeting, when Mr. Coleman entered, was far from being as cordial as could be expected between such old friends. But Peter did not appear to notice it, and only stayed a few moments. “I’ll just go up and look over your town,” he said, “and this evening, if you are at liberty, we will talk things over.” And from something in his tone and expression, Mr. Elwell concluded that he had better be at liberty. CHAPTER XXIII. PETER SHOWS HIS HAND. We must now return for a space to Miss Allan, whom, I am afraid, we have greatly neglected. Lettie had returned to her aunt’s immediately after Fanny’s marriage. But there was a change in the girl that Coleman, with all his penetration, could not understand. He was perplexed and somewhat frightened at her demeanor. She did not try to avoid him. On the contrary, she managed to meet him very often. But there was no resumption of their old intimacy, and Peter could not understand it. “She has certainly got some scheme in view, and I’d give my head to know what it is,” he thought. But the more he puzzled over it, the more complex it became, and he would gladly have washed his hands of it all, if it had not been for the fear that the girl knew too much, and his anxiety to find out in whose behalf she was likely to use her power. “If I only knew on which side she is retained,” he thought, “or what possible interest she can have in the business? Is it friendship for Fanny or Elwell?” He doubted it. She was outspoken in her dislike for Elwell, and fully understood that the aversion was mutual. He had asked her once if she expected to visit them on their return, and she had coldly inquired in turn, if he thought it possible that she would receive an invitation?